A plants versus zombies theme with cute graphics adds up to be a hit, PetsWar. PetsWar is a 2D defense game that looks to expand on the plant versus zombies gameplay by adding more pets and levels.

Gameplay

You are a cowboy with special powers trying to save a kingdom and to do that you need to build an army to defend yourself. When you start a game, you are first asked to choose which pets you will use in battle. Then you play, there are many different things that you can summon; the most important one being corn. There are waves of enemies attacking you, and your job is simply to not allow the enemies to get past you.

The battlefield is grid-shaped and for each vacant spot you can place a pet with the cost of money. The selection of pets includes common household pets with personalities like the bulldog, the pig, the rooster and a chain smoking cat, as well as animal that might live around you or on a farm. You can get money through tapping the corn. There are also power-ups which you can get by tapping the green orbs that will fallout of the sky, and once you tap enough of the green orbs you are allowed to use the power-ups. There are 4 different power-ups: shield, lightning, slow down time and a water attack

Strategy and cunning is key here, because you have to place your pets in a good order. For instance, it would be much smarter to put the corn plants in the back rather than in the front (because corn plants cannot attack). Also, because you can only select a few pets from your collection, you can build an elite team and have a strategy prepared. And if you mess up and plant your pets and then want to change their position, there is an eraser which ?erases? the pet. There is also an in-game store where you can buy more pets for in-game cash (you earn through the levels). The controls for PetsWar are pretty simple and involve tapping: tap to gather the corn (will allow you to summon more pets), tap to select where the pets go and etc.

There are over 30 levels, over 20 different scenery, and a plenty of pets to choose from; all this content adds a whole lot more to the re-playability of the game. Each type of pets have their own cost and attack/ ability respectively. For instance, a stronger pet will cost more and vice versa. There is no endless mode or a leader-boards which both negatively impact a tower-defense game by a lot.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are cute and look great, but do not support retina display. There are plenty of environments and weather changes (all hand drawn) and overall it?s a fun theme and design to play with. The music is not that great, and there is no option to turn it off (besides playing your iPod music) which is frustrating. You can play your iPod music which is the saving grace if you don?t like the in-game music.

Conclusion

PetsWar, is a good tower-defense game that just needs a little more to make a great one. The graphics and gameplay makes this playable by anyone. There is some amount of thinking and strategy involved in the gamplay and I recommend this with some hesitation, but overall its a fun game that could use a bit more polish.

Ratings:

Graphics: - 4 -The graphics are very interesting and creative, but retina display would make it perfect.Sound: - 3 -The soundtrack is not very good and there is no option to turn off the music. iPod music support is included. Controls: - 5 -Controls are simple and very responsive.Gameplay: - 3 -The gameplay is fun and has some replay value. No leader-boards or endless mode.